Houseboat Living

[JanetGroene]

I'm writing an article about upgrading a vacation houseboat for full-time liveaboard life. If you were upgrading your present power boat for full-time (calm water) cruising, what are some items you consider essentials. I'll be glad to credit you in my article if you choose to be named, or ID'd in some other way, e.g. "10-year powerboat liveaboard" or "veteran houseboater".

[anjou]

Most, if not all the comforts of home like a real functional bathroom, full size cooker, wash machine, decent sized water storage, locker space and a proper heating system

[gonefishin]

I spend a few weeks on the family's houseboat during the summer, but we haven't converted to full timers... yet. But I found that having a good sized bathroom is essential. It gets really old being crammed into a shower that's about 1/4 the size of a phone booth.

[cat man do]

I am building my boat (far from a houseboat) around a:

* Oversized anchoring gear
* 12 ft catamaran dinghy and suitable motor
* Deck crane for lifting it out
* large refrigeration capable of having a carton of icy cold beers on hand at any time plus food for a month (and the power to run it)
* Split system a/c (and the power to run it, on occasion)
* A real king size bed
* Comfortable seating/lounge
* A good sized shower area
* Toilet out back in the cockpit, not below
* Proper computer system with win.7 and a decent sized lcd screen for nav, movies etc (and the power to run it)
* proper built in s/s BBQ as majority of cooking done outside
Ability to cook inside is not a priority happy to use single burner disposable gas cooker on a benchtop and a wok on days when we cant cook outside.